Infected
by OgaShaw
Summary: Set immediately after the OVA. Takashi, seventeen years old. Likes? Music, Tv, Girls, Games, Killing Zombies. Does? leads a group of survivors through a Infected wasteland that used to be called Japan. Days are hard and Living through them is almost impossible.. an its only going to get harder..


**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own High-school of the Dead, __Satō Daisuke__ does. I do however, own the concepts and ideas portrayed in this story, as well as the extra characters._

"Argh!" Takashi lightly cried out, stirring from his already troubled sleep from the sharp pain coming from his groin area. His eyes flew open as he realized that he couldn't move his right arm. Rubbing his eyes with his left hand he looked right to see Rei, firmly attached to his right arm with her head resting on his shoulder as she slept, a look of contentment on her face.

"Aah" Takashi cried out softly again, finally looking down to the area in pain, only to feel his cheeks immediately begin to turn a bright crimson as soon as he saw. He looked down to see Saeko, the primary melee fighter in the group, curled up between his legs, thumb in mouth, and deeply asleep, using his crotch as a pillow.

Takashi sighed lightly to himself before shaking his head and trying to shake off the lingering tenderness from having his wound bumped. He ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to think of anything other than the adorable image Saeko curled up in his lap so that he could get some sleep.

Failing, he decided to go and relieve Kohta who was on watch, and grab some fresh air. He carefully maneuvered his left arm out of the clutches of the sleeping Rei and scooted forward some so he could lay her on the floor. He reached awkwardly behind his back to pull the beach towel that she was using as a blanket up to cover her.

Looking down, he felt his cheeks flush. Apparently, when he had scooted forward he had spread his legs to avoid kicking Saeko, and now his legs were wrapped around her curled up sleeping form. He found himself staring straight down at her beautiful sleeping face, thinking about the hallucination he had the previous night involving her. Remembering how real it all felt, so real, he had to shake his head lightly to keep his thoughts from running where they wanted.

"Mmhm.." Saeko murmured in her sleep as Takashi picked up her torso lightly and removed himself from under her before holding her upper body up with his left arm.

While looking around for something to place under her head as a pillow, he searched the room and saw Shizuka laying down a few feet away with Alice curled up against her, with Zeke sleeping comically on her cleavage. Saya was sleeping beside her, leaning up against the wall with a towel laying across her lap. Remembering what he was looking for, Takashi spied a life preserver a few feet away, slightly out of reach. Sighing lightly, he lay down on his side, putting both of his legs to the right and reaching over Saeko with his right hand. Unable to grab it securely, he leaned forward a little bit more, freezing when he felt Saeko's breath faintly on his shirt. Checking to make sure she was still asleep before continuing, he was able to grab one of the buckles on the life-preserver and tried his best to be quiet in dragging it within reach until he could grab ahold of it and pick it up. On bringing it closer he fell forward.

Apparently, when he stretched to get the life-preserver, he became unbalanced, leaned back and fell. Thankfully, he was able to catch himself by slamming the hand holding the life-preserver down on the floor, barely catching himself before falling into an unintentional kiss with the unsuspecting Saeko.

Suddenly sweating, he gulped unintentionally before looking to her eyes to check that she was still asleep before he found his eyes being drawn to the pink lips a mere 3cm away from his own. His brow suddenly creased in concentration. Now focused, he took a light but deep sniff, before letting it out slowly, and repeating the action.

_That Smell, _He thought to himself, _What is that?_ He wondered before pushing his curiosity to the back of his mind and setting his mind back on task. He slid the life-preserver under her head quietly before carefully lying her down.

Whew! He thought to himself, before making his way out the door into the crisp night air.

"Yaah!' Takashi yawned after closing the door, turning to see that Kohta, who was supposed to be on watch, was asleep sitting down on the stairs leading out to the sand, with his rifle leaning against the wall beside him. Kohta Hirano, the only son a jewel merchant, and a fashion designer, was the marksman of the group. The sixteen year old, slightly on the short side and a little on the plump side was a former military enthusiast. He saved Takashi's childhood friend, Saya, with a nail gun with his marksmanship when the outbreak of 'Them' first began. An idea began to form in his mind and with a smirk Takashi crept up behind Kohta's sleeping figure and let out a deathly moan right beside his ear.

"YA-G-!" Kohta shrieked before Takashi covered his mouth with his hand. He struggled to regulate his heartbeat until he heard the muffled snickers coming from behind him.

"Yoh-bassrd" Kohta muffled out from behind Takashi's hand which was still firmly clamped over his mouth.

With a smirk Takashi released Kohta before sitting down beside him, taking note of the frustrated and tense expression that was stamped on his friends face, and sending him a comforting smile.

"You didn't have to do that" Kohta muttered.

"You didn't have to be asleep on watch" Takashi countered with a knowing look in his eyes before continuing.

"I think I'm letting you off pretty easy with just scaring you" Takashi paused before finishing with, "Or I could tell the Saya".

Kohta's face blanched before he finally gave up. "This is one of the reasons we chose you as the Leader- you keep us straight" He sighed. "Please don't tell Saya" he added with a hint of begging in his voice.

"Don't worry about it" Takashi responded with a smile.

"Thanks." His head still hung slightly, gazing at the sand at the bottom of the steps.

Takashi looked over at him, noticing his usually hyperactive friend somewhat down, with a question in his eyes he opened his mouth to voice it before Kohta beat him to it.

"I need to be stronger, Takashi. It's only been five days since all of this started, and I've already gone through enough ammo to supply a police department for a year. I want to be more like you Takashi- you do the entire run and gun with your shotgun and when you're out of ammo, you don't even hesitate to bash their skull in with whatever is handy...All I'm good for is shooting from a distance," he finished.

Takashi sighed and gathered his thoughts before replying to his gun savvy friend.

"What brought this on?" Takashi questioned, "You are a great sniper, and we would have most likely died ten times over again if you weren't here."

"Thanks Takash, I," Kohta replied. "But it's just, I'm so scared- every time I see them, it's the same thing. Half of me is happy to kill, and the other half is wanting to run and hide. I want to quit hiding behind a sniper scope, and get on the front lines with you and Saeko."

Takashi thought for a minute before replying. He began thinking over how everything had been since that day, the day when 'They' showed up. As much as he could remember, during their entire time traveling together, Kohta had been peering through a scope of some kind or another. But this also brought up something that he had been thinking about quite a lot recently. Getting stronger. Thinking back, he couldn't really remember being strong enough to protect anybody. Yeah, he was able to rescue Alice, but that was all thanks to him randomly swinging a tire Iron around, and a point blank shot with the Smith & Wesson.

"Takashi?" Kohta asked, looking at him with a questioning expression, "You ok? You have a serious expression."

Takashi came out the daze he was lost in, shaking his head to clear it and push those thoughts to the back of his mind before responding to his troubled friend.

"Yeah, sorry, that reminded me of something that I needed to think about. How about you work up to it? Takashi added without thinking.

"Huh?" Kohta questioned, looking confused, "How would I do that?"

Takashi thought for a few seconds before he realized that his friend was looking somewhat unexpectedly at him, obviously waiting for him to say something.

"How about...Getting closer every time you kill one: meters, yards, centimeters, as long as you are moving closer, its improvement...right? ... hehe" Takashi answered while scratching the back of his neck, somewhat nervous by the intense stare that Kohta was giving him.

Kohta stared at him even more intensely, his expression grave.

"What?" Takashi asked nervously, feeling like he was sweating under the intense stare, "Yo-".

"You're a Genius!" Kohta exclaimed, with his face breaking into a smile.

"No problem, Doctor Revolution" Takashi laughed.

"Bastard" Kohta muttered under his breath, looking at the sand again.

After they had accidentally placed hydrangea leaves on the fire, things had gotten rather interesting, though Takashi would not really know how much so because he had been in the woods. What he did know was that Saya had woken up to see Kohta thrusting to a broomstick while yelling 'revolution!'.

"Lighten up, remember what happened to me?" Takashi shot back, pointing to his crotch to emphasize his point.

"Yeah, you have a point there" Kohta muttered between laughs before finally giving over to all-out hysterics.

While waiting for Kohta to recover, Takashi began thinking back to earlier that morning. After we had accidentally burned the hydrangea leaves on there campfire, you could say that everybody woke up with a surprise. I wouldn't know about how the others awoke because no one would tell me. Saya just started blushing and told me to mind my own business, Rei just blushed and told me to shut up, Even Saeko refused to tell me, she just simply blushed and said, 'I would rather not remember how I woke this morning', whatever that is supposed to mean, they would have told me if it was bad, right? The only person who would say anything was Shizuka, and after she told me about Kohta's 'revolution broom', everybody but Alice and I started laughing. I was in the woods surrounded by 'Them', and Alice was already asleep in the beach house, but after she told me about Kohta and was about to tell me about the rest, she suddenly got this incredibly scared face and stopped. I couldn't understand what scared her so much though, when I turned around Saeko, Rei, and Saya were flashing some pretty smiles. I just don't get it, eh, anyway, back to this man-to-man talk.

"Not even a proper battle scar..." Takashi mumbled darkly to himself, making Kohta's already large grin grow even larger.

"Who says a slash wound on the thigh isn't a proper battle scar?"

"When the slash didn't even come from an enemy!"

"But you had one of 'Them' about to munch on your-" Kohta began.

"I know, I know" Takashi cut in.

This morning, while everybody else was still around the beach house, he was not. Actually he was in the woods, following an imaginary Saeko caused by the hallucination. And, to top it off, being discovered in such an embarrassing position, followed up with getting the embarrassing wounds, being surrounded by four of 'Them' and him having an...adult dream at the time, was in such a position to where he was unconscious holding them at bay with his arms and legs while muttering the names of a few certain members of the group.

As one of 'Them' that was close to his groin area finally got through and lunged for his manhood, Rei, concerned for his safety, had jumped forward with her bayonet, and attempted to eliminate the threat. No harm there right? Wrong. At this time, Saeko had also taken action, drawing her sword with the speed known only to a well-practiced master, she slashed at his attacker with delicate accuracy.

Either one of the girls stepping in would have been fine, but seeing as they had both aimed for the same target, on striking their target, collided, sending the others' blade skirting off in opposite directions. This left gashes on either side of the still-sleeping Takashi's inner thigh, dangerously close to his manhood.

Takashi, who had awakened in a rather painful position from a rather nice dream, found himself covered in the blood of 'Them', along with his own that was oozing and mixing with the blood from his attackers on his legs and on his swimsuit. Kohta had a look that seemed to me a mix of laughter, and concern, before finally deciding to go for concern and attempt to hide the laughter. Saya seemed at a standoff with being concerned, or flustered, like someone had just blown up her dress with a leaf-blower, and seemed to decide to go with the former. Shizuka seemed to be the most disturbed, immediately jumping forward as she saw him bleeding with a look of almost comic concern written on her face as she almost smothered him with her voluptuous chest while trying to make sure he was ok. Rei was the next to respond, most likely being shaken out of the daze by the sight of the nurse tackling Takashi, She got on her knees beside him, being quickly followed by Saeko, who responded barely seconds after Rei crouched down beside Takashi opposite of Rei as they both simultaneously stated, " I'm Sorry!" and looked at him with concern.

They had gotten straightened out within a few minutes by Shizuka, who was in her serious mode. Kohta had supported Takashi in walking down to the beach and into the water to clean off of all the blood before helping him return to the beach house where he had been thoroughly examined and taken care of by Shizuka. She announced that he simply had two large and semi deep cuts on his inner thigh and that he had not bitten, much to the group's relief. They had discovered the cave leading to the town shortly there after.

"Anyway" Takashi continued, "I'm here to relieve you".

"You sure?" Kohta asked.

"Yeah, I can't sleep anyway" Takashi told Kohta in a reassuring voice, and shooting him a smile..

"Well, if you're sure..." Kohta replied in a low voice, his insecurity lessening.

"Don't worry so much, it's going to be fine, and anyway, our gunman needs proper rest" Takashi continued, flashing a winning smile.

Kohta smiled before nodding and getting up.

"Call if you see anything" Kohta added over his shoulder as he walked to the door leading to the back of the beach house where the others from there group were asleep, closing the door softly behind him.

Takashi sighed as he looked up at the night sky, taking in the view of the moon reflecting on the ocean flickering and waving atop the waves as they continue their daily cycle, the eternal war with the dry land for dominance. The sky was abnormally clear due to the lack of lighting as the stars twinkled in the sky, giving birth to a marvelous view. The sandy beach seemed to sparkle in the moonlight until disappearing into grass and scrub and eventually turning into the palm forest where he had been found this morning.

_Damn, I guess I never really bothered to look, but this is beautiful, _Takashi thought to himself, _Before all of this, there was no way you would be able to see the stars like this, and the possibilities of me coming to a beautiful island? Pretty much zero._

"I guess I had better find all I can to be smile about now" Takashi murmured to himself, leaning back and propping himself up with his elbows behind him.

"If not, one could easily lose their mind" spoke a soft voice behind him.

"Ga-!" Takashi began to yell before a hand silently slapped across his mouth, effectively muffling the sound of his surprise.

_This smell__…__Hmm, I remember this smell, I smelled this earlier, _Takashi thought to himself.

Without even looking behind him Takashi tapped the hand that was still firmly planted across his mouth, a silent 'I'm ok now'. The person removed their hand hesitantly at first, then seeing as Takashi wasn't making any noise, moved out of sight.

"Saeko" Takashi stated, confident in his identification of the smell.

Saeko Busujima was the eighteen year old daughter of Master Busujima the Samurai descendant, as well as the swordsman of their group. She had quite a dark side to her, and even wanted to sacrifice herself so she would not turn into a monster. She would have done it had Takashi not saved her, and told her that he accepted her, darkness and all, and for her to fight for his cause.

Takashi, still leaning back on his elbows, looked up abruptly, hoping to bring his assailant into view.

Takashi blinked, then he blinked again, then coughed lightly as he felt a flood of heat rising to his cheeks. Looking up, he found himself looking up right in-between the legs of the thong wearing Saeko, who was wearing her school uniform top with a battle skirt with a slit down the right leg and sword strapped to her left side.

Saeko, who seemed to have just realized the position that she was standing in stepped back with a start, pushing her skirt lower down so as to cover herself with both hands.

"I am a woman you know!" Saeko quietly exclaimed, a color rising to her cheeks to match Takashi's.

Takashi, realizing how he must look with his blushing, embarrassed look, quickly looked down and muttered an apology.

Saeko recovered quickly, lightly shaking her head to force the color to leave her cheeks and sat down on the stairs alongside Takashi while both of them gazed in opposite directions.

The silence stretched on for a little while until Takashi decided that he should be the one to break it, deciding to change the topic.

"So why are you awake?" Takashi questioned, looking forward at the beautiful scene of the ocean crashing against the shore.

Saeko remained silent for a second as if pondering before answering, before finally seeming to have come to a decision.

"I was wondering where you went; the wounded should be resting" Saeko replied, looking at the scene in-front of them.

"Couldn't sleep" Takashi replied with a wry smile, refusing to tell her that she woke him up by bumping into his wounds.

"I noticed" Saeko replied, pausing briefly before continuing, "Thank you for being so careful not to wake me".

Takashi turned to look at her with a smile, noticing how she had slight color to her cheeks.

"Don't mention it."

Saeko looked up at the vast starry sky and took a deep breath before beginning to talk, still looking up.

"Please forgive me for falling asleep on you in such an undignified manner" Saeko blurted out.

Takashi, who was slightly shocked at her words, looked at the beautiful young woman who was staring up into the sky with flushed cheeks. It was apparently quite hard for her to say this, seeing as it was a consistent thing with her falling asleep on his crotch. For her to bring it up now seemed futile.

_It's not like I mind it, I don't mind it at all__,_Takashi thought to himself, _b__ut it__'__s not like I can just say that either. _Takashi's brow creased in concentration. _Maybe I can...hmmm._

Saeko, who was had been watching him out of the corner of her eye, saw his brows crease, and took it as a bad sign. Sighing to herself before starting to get up, only to find Takashi's hand resting on her arm, she looked up abruptly, and with a light blush.

"Say, Saeko" Takashi started, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer in a manner in which someone would whisper a private business deal, "Would you be interested in teaching me how to use a sword?".

Saeko, who was blushing furiously from the close contact, immediately straightened up on hearing the request.

"What? Why?" Saeko asked in confusion, "H-".

"Because if you're giving me lessons, it's only natural for you to receive payment...right?" Takashi went on, unintentionally cutting her off.

"I can teach you, but what shall you pay me with?"

Takashi looked at her seriously for a second before answering her with a completely serious face.

"I will be your pillow" Takashi replied seriously.

"O-Ok" Saeko replied in a small voice, almost stuttering over her words before she recovered and flashed him a smile, "Deal, but I won't go easy on you".

Takashi smiled and offered his hand, which she took gingerly and they shook to close the deal.

After that, Takashi got Saeko to return to bed after she yawned a few times, arguing that she needed her sleep. She halfheartedly agreed after his persistent argument, though not appearing to happy about it. After she returned to bed, Takashi leaned back and got comfortable and then delved into the recesses of his mind, thinking over the previous day, and the day that was quickly approaching.

The sun had made its way completely over the horizon before anybody woke. The first to wake was Rei, their eighteen year old daughter of a renowned policeman. She is a spear user who was also a childhood friend of Takashi. When they were young she promised to marry him, though in high-school she had given up on him and gone out with his best friend instead. During the beginning of the outbreak Takashi had saved her, and killed his best friend as he had joined the ranks of 'Them', and since then they had begun travelling together, she had been constantly flirting with Takashi.

Rei was closely followed by a yawning Saeko, who looked like she did not sleep to well without her 'pillow'. The sight of the two beautiful women walking out one after another was enough to help Takashi shake some of the sleep out of his eyes. Rei and Saeko both bid Takashi good morning before going to sit down in in separate booths.

The next member of their group to wake was Saya. Saya Takagi, the sixteen year old daughter of an influential Uyoku dantai politician, and a wall-street genius, is the brains of the group, sporting a Luger P08, and a bitchy personality. They had been up at her parents' house just two days ago when a horde of 'Them' had attacked, forcing her father and mother, along with their men, to cover them while they made their escape.

Kohta came out next, sporting a few water bottles which he threw to everyone before setting the rest on a table that had some of their provisions atop it, then sat across from Saya, who had decided to sit beside Rei, and began to nurse his water bottle as he listened to a conversation taking place in front of him.

A few minutes passed until anyone else came out, but as Saya was asking Kohta to go wake them up, the door to the back opened once again, revealing Alice. The seven year old Alice Maresato was the daughter of a Reporter. She was rescued from 'Them' by Takashi after her father had been killed by some survivors who didn't want to take care of another person. She is the youngest in the group, and see's the group as her family.

Alice was tailed by Zeke, her loyal white and black-eared puppy who would alert the group whenever there were any of 'Them' nearby.

Alice greeted all who were awake before taking a water bottle and sitting next to Kohta, who was still listening deeply to the conversation across from him. After letting Zeke get comfortable in her lap she turned to look behind her so she could talk to Saeko. Saeko obliged, and the two engaged in age-appropriate small talk.

The sight before him was quite heartwarming for Takashi, seeing everyone with smiles on their faces, waking up after a good, safe night's sleep and enjoying small talk. _I wish every day could be this peaceful, _Takashi thought to himself as he laughed internally at the sight of Saeko trying to hold a conversation with a child.

Takashi frowned in sudden thought_.__.__.where's Shizu-_

"_Shit" _Takashi mumbled under his breath as he put his head in his hands.

Shizuka was going to kill him. Shizuka Marikawa, the twenty six year old former school nurse is as clueless as they come. She is as book-smart, yet ditsy as they come, and armed with a voluptuous figure, and an innocent disposition. She was also the nurse and driver of the group. In spite of everything, Shizuka did all she could to keep them all in tip-top shape, and was known to be rather brutal when someone got between her and her patients. And Takashi had just stayed up all night on watch when he should have been asleep healing his slash wounds. He was dead.

_Maybe I can sneak back there and pretend to be asleep so when she wakes up she __won__'__t__ notice,_ Takashi thought to himself as he began to stand while ignoring the pain crawling up from his inner thighs. Hobbling over to the door as quietly as he could he began to reach for the handle, only to see it turning before he could place hand on it. He froze. The door opened all the way, framing a voluptuous blond, who was yawning into her hand.

"Oh, hey Takashi" Shizuka murmured from behind her hand, obviously still tired.

"H-hey Shizuka, g-good morning!" Takashi stuttered, trying to sound casual.

"Good morning" Shizuka yawned out before looking Takashi over, "Why are you walking around, you should be laying down."

"D-don't worry!" Takashi stuttered out quickly, trying to cover his tracks, "I just had to go to the bathroom, I was about to go back to bed!"

"Hmm" Shizuka paused for a moment, thinking to herself, "That's ok" she said before walking passed him to sit with the rest of the group.

Takashi breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like he had just avoided being mauled by a tiger.

Takashi was walking through the doorway into the back as he froze once again, hearing Shizuka talking to Kohta.

"Shouldn't you be asleep Kohta?" Shizuka questioned with a concerned face, "you stayed up all night on watch; you need your sleep!"

"Huh?" Kohta replied without even turning away from the two girls in front of him, "Ooh, I got plenty of sleep".

"Did you sleep during watch?" Shizuka questioned in a dark voice.

Kohta, now had his full attention on the angry, large breasted blond. He scooted back in his seat as far as he could, trying to put some distance between himself and the woman in front of him before stuttering out in a fast torrent of words.

"T-Takashi relieved me, after about two hours!" Kohta blurted out, fear obvious on his face.

Takashi felt like he was riveted to the ground, turning his head slowly to look at the angry blond and felt like bending metal. His fate was sealed.

"Did he now" Shizuka said with a beautiful, yet terrifying smile, turning to look at the frozen figure of Takashi, her eyes blazing.

"Is that true Takashi?" Shizuka questioned.

Takashi mentally sighed, knowing his fate was sealed but to prepare to fight to the last breath in spite of it. _You might kill me, but __you__'__r__e__ going to have to catch me first,_ Takashi thought to himself.

Takashi tried to stop the whimper in his throat, only managing to choke down half of it before he sprang to action. Terror lending him strength, he attempted to leap to the exit of the little beach house, realizing to late that Shizuka was already moving to intercept him. Being airborne, he was unable to change direction as he tumbled straight into Shizuka who was blocking his way. As they crashed to the ground he did his best to turn so she would land on him instead of the hardwood floor, succeeding for the most part. Shizuka squealed lightly as she landed on Takashi, moaning slightly as her large breasts magically made their way into Takashi's hands as he tried to catch her. The moment didn't last, because as soon as he made sure she was ok, Takashi rose from the floor and half jogged to the door going into the back room, intent on locking himself in. He made it through the door and was trying to close it when a pale white hand grabbed onto the other site of the door handle, twisting it to stop him from locking it. Takashi, who was now more frantic than he had ever been when facing 'Them', tried to force the door shut by pushing his back against it. The battle was not long, as Shizuka forced Kohta to assist her in opening the door, and between the two of them, they managed to force open the door to reveal Takashi, who was already half way across the room eying the skylight.

In The end, Takashi was caught by Shizuka and forced to obey her and lay down on the cot which nobody had used for some reason, due to them all preferring to sleep on the floor so they could wake up easier. Shizuka had then forced Kohta out of the room, so he could not aid his friend, and locked the door as she began to check over him.

"Now let's take off those pants" Shizuka demanded, looking at Takashi with a firm, yet happy face.

"Huh?" Takashi replied.

The rest of the group cringed as they heard Takashi's yells coming from behind the locked door. Kohta hung his head and covered Alice's ears. Rei put her head in her hands, Saya grumbled something about being a man, and Saeko was giggling.

Back in the back, Takashi was staring at the ceiling with his face bright red, refusing to look down. Shizuka hummed and smiled as she worked at re-bandaging his upper thighs. She had gotten his pants off and almost got farther but Takashi began protesting even more and pulled up his underwear so the wounds were visible. Shizuka had settled for this and had unwrapped and changed both his bandages, and was now checking over her work to make sure she had done everything correctly. She checked it, then she checked it again, and then once more. She was moving in to check it again before Takashi realized that checking bandages did not take this long and looked down to see Shizuka staring at the lump in his boxers with a cut calculating face.

"Gaah!" Takashi half yelled as he scrambled backwards, before covering himself with a protective hand, blushing profusely as Shizuka let out a musical giggle.

It was about noon before the group got moving, due to Shizuka's doting on Takashi. After she cleared him, and had Saeko cut him a thick branch to use as a walking stick, the group moved forward. Their goal was simple, Takashi had voiced what he had apparently been thinking about while he was on watch. The plan was to investigate the tunnel that supposedly led to Tokuno Town, and see if it could be sealed from the other side and used as a means to go to the town for supplies so they could continue to live on the paradise-like island. After arriving at the wide entrance to the cave system, Saya placed the group into formation. Kohta would take up a sniping position to make sure no more of 'Them' would enter the island they might be settling down in. Takashi would hold the entrance up close, with Saya providing support, leaving Shizuka and Alice to stay with Kohta. Saeko and Rei would act as the scouts, and would be using the noise caused by Takashi and Kohta as a distraction as they sneak by.

After checking to make sure everyone was ready, Saeko and Rei entered the cave. They hugged the wall even though they had flashlights and it was only a minute before they encountered any of 'Them'. Though only a handful, they decided to leave them be and proceed onward; they were scouting, not clearing them out, after all. Every few minutes they would encounter a small group, though nothing they could not handle if they had to.

Edging closer to Rei, Saeko whispered. "Somethings not right."

Rei looked around, shining her flashlight around the cavernous cave ahead them, as well as behind them before replying to Saeko.

"What could be wrong...'They' can't smell or see," Rei whispered in reply.

Saeko shrugged before advancing farther into the tunnel system.

They continued like this for maybe fifteen minutes more, creeping along while hugging the cave wall, avoiding 'Them' and keeping as quiet as they could. It was getting colder as the cave was still sloping downwards, only slightly showing signs of evening out. There were not too many stray rocks on the floor, suggesting that this had been traveled frequently before the outbreak had occurred. It was rather cold, since they were below the ocean by now, and the falls were slick with grimy moisture. Up ahead was nothing but darkness, as was behind them, and only a few of 'Them' could be seen behind them. It appeared that they had slipped in completely unnoticed. Then things started going wrong.

"Is that a person?" Saeko whispered to Rei, surprise evident on her face.

"What, where?" Rei questioned, making sure to keep her voice at a light whisper.

"There" Saeko stated is a quiet voice while pointing with her flashlight at a figure walking through the cave system in their direction.

The figure was not doing the usual lumbering that 'They' did, and was actually moving at a decent pace. What made it interesting was that it was walking more or less like a human would.

It wasn't until it got closer that Saeko choked back a gasp, making Rei look to her quickly, trying to figure what was wrong. Before following Saeko's flashlight and taking a closer look at the lumbering figure.

Rei's pupils enlarged in shock as she to saw what shocked Saeko.

The thing walking, was without a doubt one of 'Them'. It was obvious due to the dried blood covering a large portion of its body along with the clothes that appeared to be in tatters. Though what shocked the two scouts was hardly that.

As the figure neared to maybe twenty feet away, the two got a much better view of it. Taking note of how it walked surprisingly human like, though in a way that could only be described as stalking. It held its head forward, craning its neck forward as far as it could go, with its hands held motionlessly by its sides. Its hands were the cause of their shock- they had claws. White, bone looking claws protruding from the ends of the fingers about two to three inches in length and maybe half an inch thick, which narrowed down to razor points.

The continued to watch the figure as it stalked forward, passing the two women.

Just as Rei was about to release a sigh of relief, the stalking figure stopped, causing Rei and Saeko's eyes to bulge in astonishment. The figure began to sniff, sounding like something rooting through garbage almost, but it was unmistakable, it was smelling the air. The figure craned its neck forward before slowly turning its head while continuing to sniff, stopping when it was looking in their direction. The figure now turned its entire body towards the duo, facing them entirely.

Saeko and Rei both got into a running position, nodding to each other as Saeko got a firm grip on her sword. Rei raised her rifle to her cheek and prepared to blow the freak inside out. Since the echo would be so bad in the caves, it wouldn't hurt to shoot once, but twice would be bad. Checking behind them with the flashlight to make sure there was nothing to close behind them.

Behind them, Rei saw two more or the stalking figures, that were walking even faster than the one in front of them had been, and were seeming to almost zero in on their position. She gestured behind them at the approaching figures with her flashlight, seeing Saeko's eyes grow large at the approaching figures, she nodded at her gun, letting Saeko know she was about to fire, after seeing Saeko nod in understanding, she fired.

All hell seemed to be breaking loose in a matter of seconds. The thunderous roar of the Springfield M1A1 echoed thorough the cave system reaching a monstrous crescendo in a matter of seconds. The stalking figure in front of them fell over backwards as the gray matter poured out of the back of its skull, never to rise again. All of 'Them' in the area shrieked out in protest as the reverberating roar of the rifle assaulted their ears. The two figures behind them, while shrieking, seemed to have more brains than the rest, lunging forward with a speed much faster than previously thought possible from any of the ranks of 'Them'.

Saeko and Rei, deciding not to wait to see what would happen next, took off. Not bothering to look behind them, the two ran forward at a quick pace, completely discarding their earlier crawling pace. Moving fast, they barely bothered to deal with any of 'Them' save those that were before them, and barring their speedy retreat from the cave system.

After maybe ten minutes, the two slowed to a jog, figuring that they were most likely not too far away from the exit. Their hearing was slowly returning to them as the dull pounding and ringing in their ears faded somewhat. It was then that the duo noticed a sound. Footfalls, and fast ones. Turning while running, Saeko flashed her light behind them, revealing exactly what they had not wanted to see. Four figures now, all with claws, were chasing them at a mild run, and were even gaining on them. What made it worse was that the two new additions were also sporting new weaponry: extra claws, talons might be a better word, as they had sprouted from their toes.

Seeing this, Saeko urged more speed from her already tired legs, grabbing Rei with her right hand and half dragging her to keep up with her breakneck pace.

Not too far ahead, Takashi, who had just finished splattering an unfortunate one of 'Them' who had ventured from the mouth of the cave, commented to Saya, who was busy reloading her Luger P08.

"Something's different with these guys" Takashi stated, concern evident on his brow.

"I hate to agree with you" Saya grumbled in a lofty voice.

"What is it?" Takashi questioned, "What makes them different?"

Saya stopped reloading, holding the now full clip in her hands while twiddling it through her fingers while she seemed to think. The ground around them at the mouth of the cave was littered with the corpses of 'Them'. The scene of her thinking in such a horrifying scene like nothing would normally be something to laugh at, though the humor was lost on the two as Takashi patiently waited, a serious expression on his face.

"No, that would mean..." Saya mumbled, half shaking her head to herself before looking up with a grim expression.

"It would seem that they are somewhat unified" Saya stated.

"What?" Takashi questioned, a fierce expression on his face.

Saya took a deep breath before explaining, "They seem to be working more in groups, unlike before when they would simply wander around aimlessly. Also, they appear slightly different, they are not lumbering around like they used to, though they are still not walking like humans, it is a little faster. Aah, they are not walking with their hands out in front of them like the others; these keep their hands down by their sides until they hear us".

Takashi remained quiet for a few seconds before nodding in affirmation.

"So what do you think that loud noise was a few minutes ago" Takashi questioned.

Saya thought a second before opening her mouth to reply.

"It might have been a gu-" Saya's words were cut off as she noticed the sudden change in Takashi, turning abruptly while snapping the clip into her gun with a faint 'click'.

Takashi smiled at first, seeing Saeko and Rei exit the cave in a fast jog. Then his smile quickly fell as he saw the expressions on their faces, along with the condition they appeared to be in. Both of them were drenched with sweat, and blood. The two were holding hands as they ran, a look of determination and fear written on both of their faces as they both constantly checked behind them. This action confused Takashi, 'They' couldn't keep up with humans, or so he thought until he saw what they were running from. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Saya's hand with his left, and motioned to Kohta with his right, then pointed behind them at the cave entrance. Immediately after he finished the action, Saeko and Rei were there. Takashi quickly took Saeko's hand in his free hand, and took off at a sprint, dragging the three young women behind him as he made to put some distance from them and the cave.

Due to the sudden sunlight, Saeko and Rei were blinded, so Takashi led the three girls about thirty feet away from the cave entrance before letting go of them, releasing both of their hands after giving a final tug forward. The result made all three girls fly forward, landing roughly on the ground. After throwing them, Takashi turned quickly, and began to run back to the entrance. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw coming out of the cave.

Sprinting out of the cave, at a speed that rivaled a running human, the four of 'Them' came out, with one about ten feet ahead of them on all fours, running like an animal. There claws were flashing a pale grayish-white color. Their heads were craned forward as they ran, and you could hear them sniffing the air every few seconds. The one that was running on the ground ahead of the others seemed to change direction, zeroing in on Takashi. It attacked, jumping from the ground in a cat-like pounce, its claws and talons pulled in and ready to strike. Bang! The airborne attacker was suddenly blown back, the back of its head splattering the ground with a red and white mixture of bone and blood. It flew into one of the other pursuers, knocking it down. It thrashed around for a second before regaining its legs, now deciding to go on all fours; it advanced, slightly behind its comrades.

Takashi pulled his Ithaca M37 riot shotgun around from his back by the cord and looked through the scope, aiming just at the upper part of the chest of the nearest clawed assailant. Bang! The shotgun roared in his ears as the bullet launched from the chamber before tearing through the head of his target. The recoil of the powerful gun forced the muzzle into the air. Takashi pumped the shotgun, ejected the shell and reloaded the next in record time. He looked through the scope again, aiming for the next clawed attacker, which was dangerously close. Bang! The shotgun roared once more, the blast tearing a large chunk of flesh and bone off of the target's shoulder, rendering its left arm completely useless.

"Damn!" Takashi cursed as he realized he had failed to down his target.

He moved to reload once more, but the assailant had gotten too close. Swinging its still-working right arm in a viscous ark, it swatted the shotgun out of his hands. The force of the blow broke the strap holding it to him and the gun clattered to a halt about fifteen feet away. Takashi himself was launched back several feet before coming crashing down on the hard dirt. He wheezed on the ground, taking note of the blood running down his wrist before propping himself on his arms to regain his breath. When it slapped the gun from his hands it had sliced his left forearm, which had been holding the pump on the shotgun. Taking a deep breath, he scrambled to his feet.

Bang! The sound of Kohta's snipe echoed, dropping another: the third clawed assailant.

Takashi, who was still being pursued by the now one-armed attacker who was closing in once again, dove for the walking stick he had dropped beside the cave entrance. He landed beside it in a heap, securing it in his hands before rolling to face his assailant. It had tracked his movements surprisingly well, had launched itself into the air, and was coming straight at him just as he turned. Takashi tried to raise his walking stick to intercept the pouncing attacker. He lifted his weapon to deflect the blow, but the creature's deadly claw carved a deep gash in his chest on the way down. He mustered just enough strength to redirect its force and throw the thing off of himself.

Fighting to hold onto his walking stick, he grabbed an end in both hands just in time as his attacker lunged forward once again. Due to his hold on his weapon, he was able somewhat restrain his attacker. He could see its gleaming teeth gnashing as he pinned his stick into its neck to keep it from ripping into him. Pain flashed through his body as its clawed hand raked at his shoulder, making stars dance before his eyes.

"Damn you!" Takashi yelled as he pushed up with all of his strength, forcing its head up.

Bang!

The attackers head exploded in a spray of gray matter as the assailant fell forward onto Takashi, showering him in blood. Takashi felt the clawed hand drop from his shoulder and sprawl onto the ground harmlessly beside him.

Looking up from the former attacker that was sprawled on top of him, Takashi looked to the cave entrance to check if there were any more of them. Seeing none, he then looked to his friends, who were all running over to him. Smiling faintly to himself, Takashi dropped into unconsciousness.


End file.
